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While driving my 08 FEH (82K

While driving my 08 FEH (82K miles) in local traffic the other day going about 15-20 mpg as I had just crossed thru an intersection and I got the infamous triangle and exclamation point, along with the "Stop safely now" message.
The gas engine seemed to have stopped but I still had power from the electric battery/motor, so I was able to drive it about 1/2 mile until I could safely pull over and turn it off. I was able to restart it and everything seemed to work fine. I drove it to the Ford dealer for them to investigate what the issue may be.
So far they haven't found anything obvious, but they did call me to let me know they believe its a problem with the electronic throttle body control ($494). - Unfortunately this is not covered under my extended powertrain warranty. : (
Hopefully this new throttle body part will fix this problem. Although from what I've read here so far, it appears this could be due to a number of differing causes? -Keeping my fingers crossed.

We have a 2007 Ford Escape

We have a 2007 Ford Escape Hybrid and what happens is while driving on the freeway at 60-70 miles an hour the Stop Safely Now message comes on board and a few seconds later the car loses power and stops completely. Last night on a 70 mile drive the problem occurred at least 7-8 times according to my 10 years old daughter who was sitting in the back seat (she told me that she is so scared, does not feel safe and counted the occurrences). To be honest I am scared myself and I am afraid that if I drive this car it can happen anywhere, any time without warning.

Is there a recall on these cars yet? It seems the many people are having similar problems with the hybrid cars.

The stop safely now message

The stop safely now message and shut off is to prevent hybrid battery damage and electric motor damage. You may not realize this, but you have two engines in the vehicle. Usually this indicates that the electrical system for the electric motor is not getting enough power. First thing they should check is the gas engine battery. And then the diagnostic computer can give more information like bad water pump on electric motor, short somewhere etc. You should never keep driving a hybrid when it does this, because you can damage the electric motor. There is no need for a recall, this is how it was designed.

The stop safely now message

The stop safely now message and shut off is to prevent hybrid battery damage and electric motor damage. You may not realize this, but you have two engines in the vehicle. Usually this indicates that the electrical system for the electric motor is not getting enough power. First thing they should check is the gas engine battery. And then the diagnostic computer can give more information like bad water pump on electric motor, short somewhere etc. You should never keep driving a hybrid when it does this, because you can damage the electric motor. There is no need for a recall, this is how it was designed.

RE: 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid

RE: 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid "stop safely now"

Hi Gary

I've been reading over these posts and was hoping for your advise as you seem to be the authority on lots of these issues.

My 08 FEH was purchased preowned about 2 months ago. About a week after buying the car, the wrench warning light came on intermittenly. Each time I took it to the dealership, the light would switch off. Eventually I was able to get it to the dealership without the light turning off.

The diagnosis was that the Fan for the battery located in the door was not working properly. The Ford dealership replaced the broken fan at the expense of the Dealership who sold me the car (dealership I purchased from was not Ford owned)

The wrench light has not come back on since.

However today I was driving in the hot weather with the AC going, and the hazard light came on with the message "stop safely now". I immediately pulled over and turned off the car. I waited a few minutes, restarted and everything looked ok. I drove about 3 miles on the highway and the same issue occured. I called the dealership and they advised to tow the car there.

Currently the car is waiting to be looked at tomorrow morning. They said the likely culprit this time is the coolant pump for the electronics. This time, I dont have the warranty of the dealership to cover the expenses

Do you think this Ford dealer misdiagnosed the problem the first time?

Would the fan they replaced have any connection to the coolant pump failure?

Gweeks,
RE: 2008 Ford Escape

Gweeks,

RE: 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid "stop safely now"

I've been reading over these posts and was hoping for your advise as you seem to be the authority on lots of these issues.

My 08 FEH was purchased preowned about 2 months ago. About a week after buying the car, the wrench warning light came on intermittenly. Each time I took it to the dealership, the light would switch off. Eventually I was able to get it to the dealership without the light turning off.

The diagnosis was that the Fan for the battery located in the door was not working properly. The Ford dealership replaced the broken fan at the expense of the Dealership who sold me the car (dealership I purchased from was not Ford owned)

The wrench light has not come back on since.

However today I was driving in the hot weather with the AC going, and the hazard light came on with the message "stop safely now". I immediately pulled over and turned off the car. I waited a few minutes, restarted and everything looked ok. I drove about 3 miles on the highway and the same issue occured. I called the dealership and they advised to tow the car there.

Currently the car is waiting to be looked at tomorrow morning. They said the likely culprit this time is the coolant pump for the electronics. This time, I dont have the warranty of the dealership to cover the expenses

Do you think this Ford dealer misdiagnosed the problem the first time?

Would the fan they replaced have any connection to the coolant pump failure?

If they replaced the fan

If they replaced the fan that blows air, how is that going to affect pump for coolant unless that fan was blowing cool air to that pump? Eat the cost to fix it because you bought hybrid to better the environment. Why else would one buy a hybrid? Save $$? Check out how much $$ you could saved buying none hybrid version of that vehicle. I bet none hybrids are cheaper by few thousand and you donít have to worry about battery, electric motor and transaxle... You have two choices.. Fix it and drive or fix it and sell so you can get none hybrid car.. People who view this site are people who want to brag about their hybrids. I donít have hybrid right now because I donít understand why I should buy one.

Help, my 2005 Ford Escape -

Help, my 2005 Ford Escape - just gave me a break down very much like those share on this site... driving along and it seems to cut out... the readout says pull over safely... caution signs. Once I pull over... I tried to start again, and it started... I was close to the dealership (this is the only lucky part of this tale)... and once at the dealership they pull the following codes::: PO A 7C and they replaced a blender motor...but that didn't clear the problems - we still are getting Pl A 0E, Pl A 0F, PO A 81, Bl 1239 codes - and they are trying to find a Fan Motor, and 2 Battery Fans they are on back order and we don't know if they can find 2... these 4 parts and labor will total to 2,000.oo in cost to put into this Hybrid.... wow! Any chance that anyone else could take a look at these codes...is this all necessary? Anyone else replace all these fans and motors... they say that it was overheating... and it has been HOT here in South Carolina. Please advise.

I got a 2006 ford hybrid

When this hybrid electric

When this hybrid electric vehicle ("HEV") was still rather new with about 17,000 miles, it suffered a failure of the electric motor cooling pump. I was traveling through the Appalachians in the middle of Pennsylvania when the "High Motor Temperature" warning came on. Some of you may be familiar with this issue. The display warns you to "Stop Vehicle Safely" and if you fail to do so within a few minutes the vehicle literally shuts down. Although it may be inconvenient, the shut-down is by design; to keep the electric motor and related components from being damaged from the high temperature caused by some failure of the cooling system.

After allowing the motor to cool off, I limped slowly to the nearest Ford dealer. They diagnosed the problem with the Motor Electronics Cooling System ("MECS") and replaced the Motor Electronics Cooling Pump (Part Number: 5M6Z-8C419-A) under warranty.

It so happens that Ford eventually issued a Technical Service Bulletin for this overheating problem. TSB 08-24-5 states that some 2005-2008 Escape Hybrid and 2006-2008 Mariner Hybrid vehicles may exhibit a red triangle light and codes indicating a transaxle overtemp. This condition may result in reduced power as the system activates fail safe operation. Codes P1A0E, P1A0F, P0A3C, P0A3E, P0A7A, P0A7C and P1A0D may also be set.

The pump is located right in front near the Engine oil filter. Warm up the engine until it shuts off and you are in Hybrid mode only. You will here this electric motor running. It has a electrical plug hooked to it. If you take the body of the motor and push it side to side you will here the motor change RPM's. If it does, the motor is bad. The motor pushes cooling fluid through the Hybrid drive to keep it cool. Hybrid drive overheats and you get the car to stop itself to protect the Hybrid rive components and the dreaded..."It is safe to pull over" signage. I purchased a new motor for $180.00 online and it took about 1.5 hours to change out and the new on in. It is messy, cooling fluid all over the place, but you can do it yourself. Enjoy!